vbl. sb. [f. SPAT v.1] Of shell-fish: The action or process of depositing spawn. Also attrib.
1864. Morn. Star, 28 Dec. It is calculated, in spite of the bad spatting of the last three years, that there is a stock of oysters … of the value of upwards of 100,000l.
1866. Cornh. Mag., Aug., 163. We have not had a very good spatting season since 1860.
1877. Q. Rev., CXLIV. 486. The spatting process, or labour of the parental oyster.
